Born to Fly

Mamoru glared at the doorway the doctor had gone out through, growling to himself. "If he thinks I'm just going to stay put like a god-damned dog, he's got another thing coming!"

He stood up slowly, making sure he wasn't going to fall over and injure himself. When he was sure he could stand, he took a few halting steps forward. I don't want to get halfway down there and collapse, he thought, determined to get to the receptionist and ask about Kyoko. He reached the door without incident, and looked out. Naoe was busy with another patient, someone who wasn't meant to be on that particular floor of the hospital.

Mamoru had been insulted and irritated by turns when he'd found out they'd put him on the coma-ward, and left him there when he woke up due to the nature of whatever was affecting him. The super-massive headache he'd had that had driven him to the hospital weeks prior had dissipated, leaving him feeling weak and nauseous most of the time.

Peering at Naoe for a moment longer, Mamoru decided that it was safe to go, and he moved quickly out of the room and into the hall. He was grateful for the loose fitting tunic and pantsuit he was wearing, because he'd never have made it if he'd been waiting to change his clothes from the backless hospital gown he'd seen others wearing.

Turning quickly, he glanced at Naoe again to ensure that he wasn't watching, and then scurried into the elevator. He pressed the button for the first floor, and then the button that would close the doors immediately. From further down the hall, he heard Naoe calling to him.

"Takatori-san. Taka- Don't! Mamoru!" The doors closed on the noise, and began the descent from the seventh floor to the first. Mamoru sank to the floor, dizzy from the unexpected motion. To his great fortune, the doors never opened once until they reached the lobby, and he stood as the counter reached '1'. He made his way slowly over to the receptionist, and smiled at her.

"Excuse me, miss," he said politely. She looked up and blushed as she realized who she was talking to. "My friend was just in a car accident, has she been brought in yet?"

The poor woman was so flustered that she nearly knocked over her coffee. "I-I'm sorry, sir, do you mind telling me the name?"

"Kyoko. Takaoka Kyoko."

The lady's face flushed as she checked her records. Behind them, the doors slammed open and paramedics rushed in with a stretcher. Mamoru looked over, and recognized the bracelet he'd given his agent for her birthday hanging from the wrist dangling from the body on the bed.

"Kyoko!" Mamoru hurried after them just as the elevator dinged, and a familiar voice called out his name.

"Mamoru!" Ignoring the voice he couldn't quite place, he hurried after the group of people shouting orders to one another. "Mamo-dammit! Mamoru!" He was vaguely aware of the voice fading into the background as he came up on the group.

"Kyoko... Is she alright?"

One of the paramedics split off from the group, stalling him. "She's been in a car accident. There is severe trauma to her head; we're getting her into ICU right now. Please go to the waiting room, and someone will be along to tell you about her condition as soon as she is stable."

Mamoru clutched at him. "Is she going to die?" he asked, and didn't even recognize his own voice. "Tell me she'll be alright!"

"I'm sorry, sir," the paramedic said, and left with an apologetic look. Mamoru flopped against the wall, and sank to the ground.

"Please don't die, Kyoko," he murmured, and saw a familiar pair of feet walk up and stand in front of him. A noise issued from somewhere above him, but it was blurred in his ears and unrecognizeable. There was a shout, but it was the last thing he heard before darkness overwhelmed him again.

*

"This is getting really old," he muttered to himself, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"If you'd stay where you're told and not go gallivanting off around the hospital, you'd be getting better." Jei's voice sounded reprimanding.

Mamoru cracked his eyelids open and glared at him. "You're one to talk. Stop me next time then." He left it unsaid that he didn't expect to be getting better any time soon; the other man could feel the emotions behind the thought anyway. "You should just give me the NyQuil and let me be anyway. We both know I'm not going to survive this."

"My duty as a physician prevents me from assisting you in your quest to end your own life," Jei said. "Though my personal feelings are far different. You need to either get well, or die, and do it soon, because I'm tired of you disrupting Nagi's life."

Mamoru looked back at him in surprise. Jei avoided talking to him if it was at all feasible, and he almost always avoided being alone with him. Mamoru was surprised to find that not only were they the only two people in the room, Jei was speaking to him. "How the hell am I disrupting his life? I came here because Kyoko practically put a gun against my head. I was expecting a pat on the ass and a signed note saying that I was exempt from finishing the damn movie due to extreme circumstances, and told to go home and die in peace. I didn't ask to be locked up inside this room like a prisoner."

"You're disrupting his life because he doesn't ever think about anything but you. He's always talking about you, thinking about you, worrying over you. He's not sleeping, and he's losing weight because you're wasting away to nothing, convinced that you're going to die. He can't figure out what's wrong with you because everything shows up fine on tests."

Mamoru exploded, his temper rising with each word. "You want to know what's wrong? You want to know why I'm trying to die?! Because I have nothing! There is no one left but me!"

"What about your precious Kyoko?" Jei sneered. Mamoru scowled.

"That's not the Kyoko I grew up with," he said. "She's a totally different woman, and it's all your fault. You destroyed EVERYTHING that was ever worth anything to me, and now you try to keep me here in misery with the remains of a life once lived?"

Jei considered him with one yellow eye. Mamoru was almost more afraid of the sanity he found there now than he was of the madness that was there the first time they'd met.

"I try to keep you alive because it's my work as a doctor," he said at last. "Nagi keeps you alive for reasons that are his own. You have been in a coma for four days. Kyoko is also on this floor, room seven nineteen."

Mamoru stared at him. "Why are you telling me about Kyoko? I'd think that you wouldn't want me to know anything."

Jei smirked at him. "I want you dead. We'd be better off that way. Nagi would like you to live. He's my dearest friend. I do what I can to help you live because he would be unhappy if you died." He pushed the wheelchair away from the wall, and closer to the bed before leaving. Mamoru pushed the blankets away and staggered up into the chair.

"Hate this stupid thing..."

~Before she went under, Kyoko was asking about you. Too bad you were too deeply asleep to reach. Shall I leave her a message saying you're alright?~

Mamoru paused, listening. And here is the rest of them, come to torment me like the old days, he thought loudly.

~Just me. I write screenplays as well as novels, you know. Maybe you'd be interested in my latest one? It's about a college rebel and his teacher.~

"Why would I be interested in that?" Mamoru asked out loud, pushing his door open. Anyone listening to him would probably think him crazy.

~The press is having a field day with you slipping between fully conscious and functional, and being in a coma. They think Nagi's poisoning you for some reason. I think it has something to do with Kyoko letting it slip out that you two didn't used to get along. Anyway, my screenplay. Wanna hear it?~

"Don't you have anything better to do at four in the morning?" Mamoru asked rhetorically.

~Of course not. Besides, I'm a career writer. I suffer from insomnia professionally. Want to hear about it?~

"Fine," Mamoru said, wheeling himself into Kyoko's room. Schuldig laughed.

~Promise not to make fun of it? Brad says that you'll be the main lead - which also means that he's Seen you several months down the road, and you're not dead, so stop trying. He won't tell me whether or not he's seen the Teacher, so don't bother trying to get it out of me. Anyway, it's all about this pair overcoming adversity and proving once and for all the love and justice conquer evil. Do you like it?~

"It sucks," Mamoru commented lightly, taking Kyoko's hand in his. He put his head down next to her, and stroked her fingers. I'm sorry, Kyoko...

I'm so very sorry.

(TBC)